1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to security systems of the type used to prevent the unauthorized removal of an article from a prescribed area.
2. Background Art
Consumer electronics stores typically display a large number of products so as to allow a potential purchaser thereof to pick the products up, inspect them, and potentially effect, or simulate, operation thereof. In large display rooms, particularly at times when large numbers of people are present, the potential for theft is heightened.
The assignee herein offers a number of products which are used to avoid theft of portable articles. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,667, a mechanical security system is shown utilizing a housing which is attached to an article with a bolt using a preexisting, threaded bore in the article that is to be monitored. The housing fixedly maintains one end of a cable tether on the article. The other end of the cable tether is anchored to a support at a desired display location.
This type of mechanical system, while generally highly effective, can be defeated by separating the housing from the article. In some systems, this can be accomplished by directly rotating the bolt to effect release thereof, or by rotating the bolt indirectly by turning the housing through which the bolt extends.
This mechanical type system may also incorporate an elongate pin which is offset from the bolt axis and projects from the housing into the article. This avoids rotation of the housing. This system might be defeated by using a tool to exert a substantial torque on the housing which effects shearing of the offset pin to thereafter allow turning of the housing, and in turn the bolt.
Attempted removal of the housing by directly or indirectly rotating the bolt may cause the infliction of damage to the article, which is oft times expensive.
To increase the effectiveness of the security system, it is known to incorporate an electronic feature which either substitutes for the mechanical tether or is an adjunct thereto. In one system, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,341,124, a switch is armed in captive relationship between the article being monitored and a housing. One may attempt to defeat this type of system by working an object between the article being monitored and the housing as the housing is separated from the article, so that the object maintains the switch in its armed state. So long as the switch can be maintained in the armed state, the housing can be separated form the article without triggering the alarm.
The industry is constantly seeking out new and better ways to monitor consumer articles. As consumer articles become smaller, and thus more susceptible to theft, and at the same time increasingly expensive, the problem of theft becomes more pronounced.